No cause of fire determined yet

It burned in the blink of an eye, Jennifer Morales said recently in an interview. And today, when she buries her son, she will do it not knowing what caused the fire that stole his life.

Fire investigators, although they have not discovered what caused the fire, have been able to rule out some possibilities of the fire's origin.

Fire investigators also believe they have found the general area where the fire started.

"We believe the area of origin is in the dining room. The most damage to the house was done to that area," said Kent Gardner, fire investigator for the Fire Marshall's office.

Morales said Saturday that she believed the fire started with the heater located between the living room and hallway. She said, and investigators confirmed, that the heater was apparently the only appliance turned on at the time of the fire.

"We haven't ruled out anything yet,"Gardner said.

A series of unlikely, but possible, coincidences preceded the Wednesday night flash fire.

While Morales, her mother and grandmother stepped out to play some bingo before 10 p.m. at a nearby parlor, her 8-year-old son, Isiah, was fast asleep. His 14-year-old sister, Marcy, was home to watch him.

In the time it took Marcy to run across the street to grab her brother some pants to wear to school the next day, their home at 2711 S. Seminole St. caught fire.

The home was consumed and Isiah died minutes after the fire started, officials said.

Jennifer Morales spoke Saturday about Isiah's passion for Harley-Davidson motorcycles and her wish to try to fulfill his dream.

Randy Houk is coordinating a group of Harley-Davidson owners who planned to honor Isiah at memorial services in Hereford, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Investigators will return to the scene for the sixth time in six days today, looking for more clues. However, investigators said they collected everything they could during the first 18 hours of the investigation.

The American Red Cross continues to collect donations in memory of Isiah to help the family pay for the funeral and get back on its feet. Donations can be sent to the American Red Cross, 1800 S. Harrison St., Amarillo, TX 79102. Donations should have Isiah Morales' name printed on the envelope.